Month: November 2015

Let’s understand the true meaning of this wonderful festival, so as to illuminate our lives with the true essence of Love& Light.

Diwali: the festival of Lights

Diwali, comes from the Sanskrit word Deepavali which literally means “Row of Lights.” It historically symbolizes the victory of good over evil and celebrates light and life on both spiritual and personal levels. Diwali is a time to turn inward and light the lamps of knowledge and truth in your hearts and minds so that you can dispel the forces of darkness and ignorance within you and allow your innate brilliance and goodness to shine forth. Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is the principle deity associated with this festival. During Diwali we ask her for assistance in cultivating and accumulating spiritual wealth, such as compassion, forgiveness, and loving kindness. Diwali is a time to reflect on and evaluate your thoughts, words, and actions over the past year. It’s a time to acknowledge and better understand ones prejudices, negative behaviors, and bad habits so that one may begin the process of transforming oneself. It is a time to discover how we can be more loving, kind, respectful, and skillful towards ourselves and others. And since all wealth, be it material or spiritual, should be shared with others who are less fortunate, Diwali is also a time to reflect on the various ways you can assist others and shine your light out into the world. On Deepavali day, we light numerous lamps with one candle. The light with which other lamps are lit is a Symbol of the Divine. The other lamps are jivanjyothis. They derive their light from the One Supreme Light.

Spiritual Significance:

From darkness to light, from ignorance to knowledge, from unhappiness into bliss, this, indeed, is the true and deep message that the festival of Diwali brings every year with its joyous celebrations. Diwali is heralded as one of the most significant festivals in Hinduism and is celebrated across India and the world. Diwali is not just about outer illumination, but it promotes the awareness of the inner light that is the core of every human being. Diwali is the celebration of the realization of this inner light, which has the power to show one the path of righteousness even at the darkest of the times. The awakening to one’s true self, introduces one to immense peace, universal compassion, love, and awareness of oneness of all things (Cosmic knowledge).When we reflect back on our mythology about Deepavali, we find that it is a joyous festival to celebrate the destruction of the demon Narakasur by Lord Shri Krishna. It is only when we first understand the meaning of the Krishna Consciousness, that we will be able to understand the significance of the Naraka principle (the demonic Virtues). Krishna is the embodiment of the Five Elements: ether, air, fire, water and earth. He is also the embodiment of five pranas- apaan, samaan,pran, vyaan, udaan, When we recognize that the Divine is imminent in the five elements, we will realize that there is no place in the cosmos where these five are not present. The human body is composed of the five elements, and can affect only the body but cannot affect the soul in any way. When these 5 pranas merge together into one breathe, Kundalini awakens and rises in the sushumna, and the sadhak experiences enlightenment. Another significance is the return of Lord Rama back to Ayodhya city after His exile. The Ramayan describes, how when Lord Rama was exiled due to the misdirected intrigues of Kaikayi, Ayodhya became almost like a ghost city. All its citizens were plunged into an ocean of separation and sorrow for fourteen agonizingly long years. When Lord Rama finally returned, their heart’s innermost longing was finally fulfilled. They spontaneously celebrated this joyous reunion of divine love by illuminating their houses. This event has immense relevance to our lives. Ayodhya is our heart and Lord Rama is the Lord of our heart, the supreme object of love and devotion for all of us. Due to rising negativity, humans too have exiled the Lord from their hearts. Just as Ayodhya became a ghost town when Lord Rama departed, human hearts too has become infested with negative and often self-destructive feelings like anxiety, depression, stress, prejudice, envy, anger & hatred. And, just like the citizens of Ayodhya, human lives too have become filled with emptiness and lamentation. Lord Rama answers in the Ramayan through His instructions, which inform us of our actual identity & purpose. We are all eternal spiritual beings, belonging to the kingdom of God, where we eternally enthrone the Lord as the king of our hearts and rejoice in selfless loving exchanges with Him. When we exile the Lord from our hearts, we exile ourselves from that world of endless love and come to this mortal world, where we misidentify ourselves with temporary material bodies. Covered by spiritual amnesia, we play illusionary roles and pursue illusionary goals, but get only disappointment and distress. Though we exile and forget the Lord, He never forgets us and never actually leaves our heart. He just blinds our vision and continues to accompany and guide us throughout all our adventures & misadventures in this world, eagerly waiting& inviting us back to His loving shelter. By cultivating knowledge about the Lord and his love for us and reviving our dormant love for him, by chanting his holy names, we can invite him back to our hearts.

Diwali Celebrations & Invoking the blessings of Goddess Mahalakshmi

Diwali celebrations start much before the actual occasion, people spend a lot of time and energy cleaning and sweeping their homes and their environment and buy new items for their house to make their homes and environment more attractive. I consider this to be partial cleaning and beautification. What about your thought process? When was the last time you cleaned out your heart? When did you last empty all the dirt and garbage that has accumulated throughout your lives? Cleaning and purifying your mind and heart from the inside, is the true meaning of “Celebration”. You must clean your hearts, ridding them of all grudge, bitterness& negativity. God sees and knows all. He knows what is behind every wall of our hearts, what is swept into every corner, and what is hidden under every rug. When the heart is clean and pure, the goddess of wealth happily and readily fulfills all your wishes. On the pious occasion of laxmi poojan, pray to the goddess of Wealth and prosperity to bestow, you with abundance of Spiritual wealth, wisdom and prosperity. This is the real long-lasting wealth, material wealth lasts only for a short lifetime, but your spiritual wealth will last forever, and may continue birth after birth.

On this pious Occasion of Diwali, I once again bless each and every one of you to illumine your hearts and be the source of light and happiness, for everyone who comes in contact with you. You be the change that you wish to see in the world. Love unconditionally, forgive unconditionally, and be in alignment to receive the cosmic abundance of LOVE, LIGHT& HAPPINESS.

Love the universe, celebrate Diwali with a pure heart and try to connect with the Krishna consciousness, Pray & invoke the blessings of the goddess of prosperity and wealth, to seek your ultimate spiritual wealth. Make your life more meaningful, and celebrate the festival of Lights with more fervor, from the antaraang. Don’t get blinded by the rituals, understand the deeper meaning and purpose of the festival and transform yourself on a positive level to lead an enriched and wholesome life.